Mary Shelley

Biography

Mary Shelley was born on August 30, 1797. Her parents were the ardent
feminist, Mary Wollestonecraft, and the radical-anarchist philosoper,
William Godwin. She had little formal schooling and eloped with the
poet Percy Bysshe Shelley at sixteen.

Mary Shelleys life was
filled with tragedy, from the death of
her mother in childbirth to the drowning of her husband when she was about twenty-five. Her first child died soon after its birth. Throughout
his life with her, Percy Shelley encouraged his wife to write. She
did so in 1816 when she was in Switzerland with him. She developed
and wrote Frankenstein for a contest involving ghost stories.
After her husbands death, Mary Shelley wrote Valperga, The Last Man, Lodore, and Falkner.
On February 1, 1851, Mary Shelley died. She was survived by one son,
Percy Florence.

Web Site Addresses

Mr. Hideous Progeny: Mary Shelley's FrankensteinThis Website details the life of Mary Shelley her friends,
her relationships and discusses her famous novel Frankenstein.http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~hamberg/